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Jethel Joyce Adasa

Professor Batty

English 101

09 October 2019

Language Limits Latinx Students’ Success

Two years ago my father decided that I should continue my studies here in the United

States because the education system here is more advanced compared to where I came from,

Philippines. I enrolled as a junior high school student and they made me take an assessment test

to see whether I belong to an 11th grade English class or if I should take ESL (English as a

Second Language) classes. At first, I was extremely hesitant about the assessment test because

what if I wasn’t feeling well on that day and I don’t pass the test? It is extremely​ ​absurd​ ​how one

test could restrict you from something you know you are better rather than being placed in an

ESL class if you fail the assessment. The low success rate in the academic field within the Latinx

high school students is one huge concern in the United States since the Latinx community has

been increasing over time. One of the several obstacles that prohibit Latinx students from being

successful in their education is the language barrier, and allowing Latinx students to take regular

English classes would make these students more advanced and improve their English

proficiency.

The language barrier is a huge hindrance that obstructs Latinx high school students from

being academically successful. It restricts the student’s potential to learn and get involved with

school activities due to the language gap between their peers. Writing in the article, “Falling

Behind: Understanding the Challenges Facing Latino Education in the U.S”, Silvia Alvarez de
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Davila argues how the language barrier with the Latinx high school students who lack English

skills are suffering from low academic success. Although there are some programs that could

help these students from keeping up with the curriculum, a numerous amount of students are

still suffering from this situation. The author demonstrates this concept when she says, “Th​e

challenges that minority children, including Latino children, who speak little or no English

encounter in their early school years are many and likely to interfere with their school

adjustment” (​Davila).​ In other words, Latinx students who have limited knowledge in English

are being held back to participate in school activities, hinders the growth of the students to learn.

Even if these Latinx students graduate high school, most of them are not fully prepared to

manage some college-level courses.

Allowing Latinx high school students to participate in a regular English class in high

school will most likely improve their English proficiency rather than placing them into programs

such as ESL classes. ​ ​Although​ ​ESL programs may be designed as a step by step learning

process for the Latinx students, it only consumes the students’ time instead of letting them take a

regular English class which would certainly be helpful for the students to be more competitive

and proficient in English. Christopher Howe explains in his book​ Improving the Achievement of

Hispanic Students​ that Latinx high school students are capable of keeping pace with students in a

regular English class. Hence, setting high expectations for these Latinx students that they could

keep up with students who are native English speakers will show that the majority of these

Latinx students will perform well. The author tends to believe that “Educators can, for example,

enable students to exit ESL programs quickly, offer bilingual advanced and honors courses”

(Howe 6). Allowing Latinx students in a regular English class either in high school or in college
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would be the best way for them to get used to the language. ESL programs are designed as a step

by step learning process for the Latinx students, but it only consumes the students time unlike

letting them take a regular English class which would be helpful since these students will be

challenged and they would be more eager to compete with other students.

ESL programs are provided to help most Latinx students who speak little or no English at

all for them to be able to comprehend the language little by little.​ ​In the article, “The ESL

Advantage”,​ ​Cara Feinberg studied 1000 native and ESL learners from kindergarten regarding

their progress in reading. According to the author “the ESL children had attained reading skills

that were similar to, and, in some cases, ​better than​, those of their native English-speaking

peers”(Feinberg). In other words, ESL programs somehow produced superb outcomes for some,

but there are still numerous amount of Latinx students that don’t really benefit from these

programs. In today’s generation, the curriculum standards in most high schools are being

lowered, wherein most ESL teachers are lowering their grading system to make students pass the

course. One of my colleagues in high school told me that her ELD (English Language

Development) teacher is communicating with them through Spanish instead of having a

conversation with them in English. This clearly shows that if this is the way that ESL courses in

high school work, it is not beneficial for the students to actually improve their English

proficiency. This kind of support program will not help students be competent when they go to

college.

ESL programs in high school are essentially composed of Latinx students, which means

students will be more likely to communicate with their classmates in their native language since

most of them do speak in Spanish. In Rachel Laoyza’s book, ​Decreasing The Social Gap
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Between English Language Learners And Native Speakers Of English​, she evaluates the social

relationship of Latinx students with students who have a different ethnicity, in which she stated,

“However, as students build relationships with students of differing backgrounds, they have the

opportunity to become aware of the social inequities that exist. And, if students are interacting,

gaining awareness and growing their intercultural sensitivity at a young age, they will be more

prepared as adults to be participating citizens ready to affect social justice and change” (Laoyza

3). Clearly there is a preponderance of Latinx students in ESL classes. Even if this class is

designed to improve their English proficiency and a place where they could slowly adjust to the

language, it can also have the opposite effect. If Latinx students are being placed in a regular

English class in high school, this can let them interact with a lot more students who are native

English language speakers. In this way, their communicating skills would be polished and

improve over a certain period and can be a big advantage for Latinx students when they go to

college.

The majority of Latinx high school students are English Language Learners and allowing

them to take a high school level English class would have a huge effect on the student's

self-confidence around their peers and in class. Although enabling Latinx high school students

who speak a little English taking a regular English class with students who are much more fluent

than them might be difficult for the Latinx high school student to adjust at first, but allowing

these students take a regular English class would push them to be more competent and be

motivated to cope up with the class. ESL programs in high school are essentially composed of

Latinx students, which means students are more likely to communicate with their classmates in
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their native language since most of them do speak in Spanish. In this case, the support program

does not actually help and would only be a waste of time.

Latinx students’ limited English skills restrict them from being successful academically.

It should be aggressively addressed because most of these students have the potential but due to

the limited resources, unnecessary programs, and unskilled mentors these students are being held

back. This crisis is not only being experienced by Latinx students but most students of color and

if these Latinx students are more involved and aware of the different cultures, they could help the

community and increase social justice awareness in the United States with their own voices.
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Works Cited

Davila, Silvia Alvarez de. “Falling Behind: The Challenges Facing Latino Education in the U.S.”

CEHD Vision 2020​, 28 Apr. 2016,

https://cehdvision2020.umn.edu/blog/challenges-facing-latino-education/​.

Ascd. “Improving the Achievement of Hispanic Students.” ​Improving the Achievement of

Hispanic Students - Educational Leadership,​

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may94/vol51/num08/Improving

-the-Achievement-of-Hispanic-Students.aspx​.

Feinberg, Cara. “The ESL Advantage.” ​Harvard Graduate School of Education,​

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/04/04/esl-advantage​.

Loayza, Rachel, "Decreasing The Social Gap Between English Language Learners And Native

Speakers Of English" (2017). School of Education Student Capstone Theses and

Dissertations. 4261. ​https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/4261